Wife, son of British lecturer interrogated in Thailand

UPDATES WITH WIFE, CHILD BEING RELEASED/CORRECTS SPELLING OF MACGREGOR

By Max Constant

BANGKOK (AA) – Thai police have interrogated the wife and three-year-old son of a British lecturer known for his criticism of the Southeast Asian country’s establishment figures.

The passports of the mother and child were also confiscated during a visit by the two to Bangkok on Friday as they stood accused of involvement in the production of “lese-majeste content” deemed insulting to the monarchy.

Pol. Gen. Thitirat Nongharnphithak, Central Investigation Bureau commissioner, told local reporters before they were released: “We are investigating them for cooperating with Thais who live overseas to produce lese-majeste content on social media.”

He mentioned an incident in which Andrew MacGregor Marshall, a former Thailand-based journalist who now lives in the U.K., posted on his Twitter account an article by German newspaper Bild Zeitung about Thai Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn’s behavior during a trip to the German city of Munich.

Thai police said the pictures accompanying the article were doctored.

“If we find that she [Marshall’s wife] has no involvement in spreading materials then she is free to go," said Nongharnphithak. "We know there are about 30 people who make and distribute these images. They live overseas and they should use this opportunity to stop."

Later in the afternoon, Marshall wrote on his Facebook page that his wife and his son were released.

“This is very encouraging news, but I remain very concerned that she faced this ordeal,” he wrote.

The family’s Bangkok house was earlier searched by 20 police officers who seized several computers and passports.

Marshall initially reacted to the arrest with a post on his Facebook page saying he was “hearbroken”.

“Whatever the Thai junta thinks of me and my journalism, Ploy [Bunluesilp’s Thai nickname] and Charlie are completely innocent and have done nothing wrong,” he wrote.

“If Thai authorities believe I broke the law they should seek to extradite me, not harass my family.”

Thailand’s lese-majeste law is one of the harshest in the world, and its criminal code punishes with jail terms between 3-15 years persons who “insult, defame or threaten the king, the queen, the heir, or the regent”.

In the last ten years, judges have tended to interpret the law broadly.

A man criticizing a 19th century king has been jailed, as has another who mocked on Facebook a dog belonging to the current King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

Since a 2014 coup, military courts have charged 57 people with lese-majeste, with 44 charged for online commentary.